Iran loses faith in Clerics

[democratic]

http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/chi-0405020477may02,1,5525446.story?coll=chi-news-hed


By Kim Barker
Tribune foreign correspondent
Published May 2, 2004


Friday prayers

Iran is still a religious country, despite pushes for political reform. People in the crowd on Fridays embrace the revolution and all that has followed.

But the appeal of such services has slipped. In the early years of the Islamic Republic, hundreds of thousands of people showed up for Friday prayers in Tehran, according to press reports. Now, in a city of about 7million, it's difficult to attract 20,000 worshipers.

Mosques were often filled before the revolution. But those who still attend say mosques are now often empty. Frustrated with their government, some people have turned away from religion. They treat their leaders like ineffectual politicians anywhere.

"I believe in God, but I don't believe in the prophet or the imams or anything else," a 17-year-old girl in pointy high heels said as she put on makeup in the bathroom of the only mall food court in Tehran. "The things we read in the Koran, it's not like the country is right now. That makes us hate them more."

Across Iran, clerics no longer command the respect they once inspired. Taxi drivers refuse to pick them up. More and more jokes are told about the clergy. One cartoon, forwarded by e-mail, depicts clerics' brains being removed before they get turbans. Some people laugh when asked whether they go to Friday prayers.

[Alpharetta]

1. yet just like in America...

the country remains in the grip of a fervent minority, willing to capitalize upon fear and conflict

[Just Me]

4. Capitalizing upon fear and conflict,...I get that,...

,...perhaps, we are all "getting" that.

Whaddya' think?

What should we all "capitalize"? "STUFF" or "PEOPLE"?

If only we could ALL agree on mere "basics".

[daleo]

2. Chicago Tribune, how reliable is it?

I am sure lots of people in Iran are tired of the religious leaders, but that doesn't mean they want to be "liberated" by the U.S. military, as I am sure the PNACers will want to convince people.

[democratic]

3. ..

No one in Iran wants any kind of intervention by the US, but that doesn't mean they don't want moral support.

Knowledge is never a bad thing, and denying the truth will get you nowhere.

[acmavm]

6. I'm not being critical or anything buy what do you mean about the people

of Iran wanting to be liberated by the U.S. military? Do you mean that that's the message that the bushistas are trying to put out, or did you somehow get that from the article.

Just curious how that came up, that's all.

[daleo]

8. To be honest, I was just making an assumption

When I went to the article, they required registration, so I didn't actually read it. I am always conflicted about whether to go to the trouble of doing this - I have for a few sources (WaPo anyway), but not for others.

I guess I have become jaded enough to assume an article criticizing the Iranian status quo would have the subtext (implied or explicit) that the Iranian people are eager to be released from their 'oppressors'. After all, that was part of the long range setup for the invasion of Iraq, and Iran has been identified by Bush as part of his 'axis of evil'.

That is why I wondered about political leanings of the Chicago Tribune - whether they were part of the propaganda buildup to the invasion of Iraq. Sorry if I misled you.

[happyending]

5. I love

those whacky Iranians.

Something like 75% of of them are under 25 years old and they
WANT to live in the modern world. There is some serious, if
repressed, coolness going on in Iran.

[starroute]

7. A lot is going on in Iran around the edges

For example, from today's paper:

"After an absence of a quarter-century, Western archaeologists are trickling back into Iran, encouraged by officials seeking wider scientific contacts with foreigners.

"During the past three years, a few American and European archaeologists have quietly resumed excavations primarily at ruins of the ancient Persian empire, which flourished 2,500 years ago. Their numbers are expected to swell in coming months as a result of a new openness toward foreign scholars proclaimed by Iranian cultural leaders last August at a conference in Tehran.

" 'We were told that Western researchers are welcome to Iran,' Gil Stein, director of the Oriental Institute of the University of Chicago, said in a telephone interview. 'Part of Iran at least is very interested in improving relations with the West, and believes that scholarship and research play an integral role in that.' "

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/chronicle/a/2004/05/02/MNGU26DK8C1.DTL